Monday, December 13, 2010

Urban Decay: Book of Shadows III

When I originally posted my giveaway for the UD BoS III, I only bought one for a giveaway on this blog, not for my personal use. Then I received a $5 coupon in the mail from Ulta and I decided to invest in one for myself! I don't own any of the previous BoS sets but since I truly LOVE New York (and I have a newfound affinity for UD shadows since having the Naked palette), I figured I should get one. And, I saved $5. Five bucks is five bucks, right?!

Notice in the above picture that you can see the shadow of my hand. Why? Because I had to hold it open with my finger or else it would slam shut. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the mirror and pop-up portion of the palette to hold its own (maybe this is just a problem with mine?). With that said, the details are very pretty and nice to look at (my daughter loved it, haha). The lights were an interesting touch too. This however, wasn't my favorite part of the palette -- in fact, it was my least favorite. One of the reasons I love the Naked palette so much is because of the sleek, simple packaging. There's no fuss, no muss, just an easy to store, light weight palette. Still, I know a lot of people love these palettes and collect them all because of the tricked out designs and the limited edition factor. I just wonder if it'd be significantly cheaper if the set up were more basic and simple.

The Contents:

Click the image to enlarge

Perversion: matte black

Uzi: metallic white with chunky silver glitter

Loaded: sparkly emerald green

Kush: green metallic with silver glitter

Midnight Cowboy Rides Again: golden beige with glitter

Last Call: plum Punch

Rockstar: deep red-purple with metallic base

Money: metallic light green

Haight: deep teal

Maui Wowie: medium gold with silver glitter

Smog: deep coppery bronze

Bordello: pale pink-purple

Radium: bright blue

Snatch: pale peach with golden sparkle

Suspect: sheer sparkly beige

Psychadelic Sister: vibrant purple

The shadows are magnificent. Smooth, buttery, vibrant, and richly pigmented. Midnight Cowboy Rides Again and Uzi are the two most difficult shadows to work with being they have a more gritty texture with fall-out potential (when using them, I patted down the shadow with a flat brush (like a MAC 239); this helps to combat some of the fall-out). A few others were slightly gritty but still very smooth and easy to work with (Kush, Money, Maui Wowie, and Snatch). Perversion is the smoothest of all the shadows because it's the only one with a matte finish. All in all, they apply like a dream. My personal favorites are: Money, Snatch, Psychadelic Sister, Bordello, Suspect, and Smog.

I love UD's 24/7 eyeliners. They're smooth, pigmented, long-wearing, and they don't drag across the lid. I know they include Zero in almost all of their palettes but I don't mind the extra black liners. It's not like they'll goto waste, unless you don't like them. I also liked that they included Random, a pretty purple liner. The mini primer potion is another item they add to almost all of their palettes. I own the full size primer and I really like it a lot so having mini backups is fine with me!

More Product Photos:

Swatches:

Eyeliners: Random (left), Zero (right)

Shadows

L-R: Perversion, Uzi, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Last Call

L-R: Loaded, Kush, Rockstar, Money

L-R: Haight, Maui Wowie, Radium, Snatch

L-R: Smog, Bordello, Suspect, Psychadelic Sister

Recommendations:

This is a GREAT palette. I can see why the shadow boxes are a cult favorite. As a girl who typically wears neutral, earth-toned shadows, I love experimenting with these bold, vibrant colors. The only matte shadow is Perversion, while the rest are shimmery and / or glittery. I wouldn't recommend this if you don't like the glitz but if you do, this is right up your alley. And, as far as the texture, pigmentation, and application of these shadows are concerned, I prefer many of them over my MAC ones.

Don't forget, I'm holding a giveaway for this palette that ends on December 31st! Click here to enter!

I would LOVE to do a look with this palette but my camera doesn't pick up on the shadows at all. When I do a smoky eye, it looks like I'm not wearing anything on my eyes! I really need to play around with the lighting in my house and figure it out. So far, I'm really loving Suspect, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, and Psychadelic Sister.